Alonso Ravens soar into flag football postseason

When the flag football season started at Alonso High School, freshman Jackie Totcky had no idea she would play a pivotal role in the team’s success.

The Ravens won their district as Totcky excelled when she was needed to the most. The Ravens made it past Steinbrenner in the district semifinals as Totcky picked off three passes and threw for another in the win. It surprised her as much as anyone.

“I wasn’t even expecting to be on the team,” Totcky said. “This really surprised me. Now I want to see how far I can go.”

So do the Ravens, who are after their fourth-straight trip to regionals. Coach Matt Hernandez said he expects the roll to continue.

“We’ve been confident all year,” Hernandez said. “We are building a nice tradition here at Alonso and it’s nice that people are starting to pay attention to flag football.”

Flag football doesn’t closely resemble traditional football and most teams use what can only be described as a double option offense. The quarterback takes the snap and either runs, throws, or pitches off to a second player out of the backfield who then either runs or throws.

Totcky and Leah Marcus have it down already and, with three more years to go at Alonso, Totcky said she is ready for bigger things than a simple district title.

“We can go all the way,” she said. “There’s no reason we can’t win it all this year.”